December 11, 2014 — AIA has rejected ADPSR's proposal to amend their Code of Ethics to prohibit the design of spaces intended for human rights violations, including execution and prolonged solitary confinement. We are deeply saddened and shocked that a professional association that claims to maintain the highest standards of ethics would permit members to participate in torture and killing. Read AIA's letter (with ADPSR's annotations) here. An un-annotated version is available here. ADPSR President Raphael Sperry's Op-Ed in response can be found here. ADPSR's media alert and response can be found here.

New Village Press cohosts Building Together symposium on participatory design at Pratt Institute

November 21-22, Brooklyn NY — Michael Pyatok, Roberta Feldman, Yvette Shiffman, Roberta Washington, David Burney and others listen to ROLAND ANGLIN, PhD, Director, Cornwall Center, Rutgers, moderating discussion on the importance of Building Together from Domestic and International Perspectives with panelists: Michael Cohen, Director of International Programs, The New School Mathias Heyden, Chair for Urban Design and Architecture, TU Berlin Rahul Srivastrava / Matias Echanove, Mumbai, India, URBZ-user generated cities Kenneth Reardon, Director of the Graduate Program in City & Regional Planning, University of Memphis

UC Berkeley Exhibition

ADPSR is proud to have curated the exhibition "Sentenced: Architecture and Human Rights" shown at UC Berkeley Oct. 14 to Nov 21th, 2014. The exhibit, which is available for travel, highlights problematic and little-known spaces within United States prisons and detention centers that house activities deemed to violate human rights: execution chambers, supermax prisons, and juvenile isolation cells. It includes rarely available documentation including architectural plans of execution chambers, drawings from people held in solitary isolation, and photographs of the interiors of juvenile detention centers. Read more about it on our blog.

1. We support the right of citizens to peaceful protests and freedom of expression. 2. We support the principle of non-violent actions for social change. 3. We support the use of public space for political expressions and dialogues. 4. We stand in solidarity with communities and activist organizations around the world seeking democracy and economic, environmental and social justice.

5. We call architects, designers, landscape architects, and planners to support open, democratic civic engagement through individual and collective actions.

Mission

Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility works for peace, environmental protection, ecological building, social justice, and the development of healthy communities.

AIA Ethics Petition

End the design of execution chambers and spaces for solitary confinement!

Professors' Petition

Architecture faculty-- join the call for AIA to stand for human rights by ending the design of execution chambers and spaces for solitary confinement!

"Love your neighbor as yourself. In so doing, an architect will act on a foundation of decency that can be built upon. Help those who aren’t likely to help you in return, and do so even if nobody is watching!"
—Samuel Mockbee, quoted in Community Works: Sambo Mockbee and the Rural Studio